


A closed door can reopen

by violentincest



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, First Kiss, Getting Back Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22558063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violentincest/pseuds/violentincest
Summary: Damen and Laurent had a good run, but now the door to their relationship was closed. If only they didn't have to keep bumping into their ex through their friends.
Relationships: Damen/Jokaste (Captive Prince), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 98
Collections: Captive Prince Reverse Bang 2019





	1. Teomoy's Art

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Welcome to my second and final piece for the 2019 Captive Prince Reverse Bang. This story was inspired by the beautiful piece of art work by TeoMoy.
> 
> Link to Teomoy's tumblr:
> 
> Teomoy
> 
> (Also, shoutout to Nikanndros, and Syd for giving me ideas for the story on a scene I was stuck with, and stillwater for Beta'ing)
> 
> Go check out my other piece for the bang, The Fox and The Dog. Click on the collection and also check out everyone else's wonderful stories and art pieces. There were some bangers this year.

Link to Teomoy's tumblr:

Teomoy

and in case my embedding link doesn't work because I'm really bad at getting links to work.

https://teomoy.tumblr.com/post/190656972727/here-is-my-piece-for-the-captive-prince-reverse


	2. A closed door can reopen

**The meeting**

“Hey Damen!” Auguste said sitting down at the bar.

Damen walked over a towel in his hand. “Hey Auguste.” he said smiling. “The usual?”

Auguste nodded and then wrapped his arm around the guy next to him. Damen’s eyes trailed to the side, and saw another blonde. A blonde who was definitely too young to be at the bar.

“This is my little brother.”

“Ah!” Damen said with a smile. “Laurent!”

Laurent rolled his eyes. Auguste talked about him to everyone he met. Laurent couldn’t meet anyone without them knowing who he was first. It was annoying.

“But isn’t he a bit too young to be at a bar Auguste.”

Auguste had the decency to look embarrassed. “Yeah, but he doesn’t drink, and I really wanted you to meet him.”

“And you really wanted a drink.” the younger blonde mumbled next to him.

Now it was Damen’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Alright, just this once Auguste. If he gets caught here the both of us, and this bar will get in trouble.”

Damen turned to look at Laurent again. “What are you drinking?”

“Ginger ale.” Laurent said.

Damen nodded. “Be right back.”

Laurent turned to his brother. “If you know the bartender, are on a first name basis, and have a usual order then you come here too much.”

Auguste shrugged. “The atmosphere's good, and Damen’s a nice guy. We’ve become friends.”

“Hmm.” Laurent said, eyes going to Damen.

He watched the man making their drinks. He was tall, and that was saying something because Auguste nor Laurent were short themselves. He had short curly hair, with some of the curls stuck to his forehead from running back and forth all night working at the bar. His skin was nicely tanned, and he was muscular. When he smiled, he got these two small dimples in his cheek, and working in customer service you always had to have a smile on. Laurent could see the appeal in him. Someone that friendly could get people talking, get people wanting to come back to this bar for their service. People like his brother. 

Damen came back over and placed two napkins on the bar. He then placed both of their drinks on top of the napkins. 

“So,” Damen said, smiling. “Auguste told me you’re in your first year of college. How are you liking it so far?”

“It’s fine.” Laurent said.

“Fine? That’s it? I remembered I loved my first year at college. Well, really all my years at college. Lots of parties at the frat, friends, and of course studying.” he said.

“Yeah,” Laurent said. “Just fine.” 

Laurent picked up his drink taking a mouthful to end the conversation. 

“Laurent isn’t one for talking.” Auguste said. “But, Winter Break just started and I know he must have aced the hell out of his finals. He was studying day and night for them. No parties for him. He’s a serious student.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Damen said. “But surely you want to loosen up sometimes? Have some fun?”

“Bettering yourself through learning is fun enough.” he said.

Damen stared at him, not sure what to say to that. 

Auguste tilted his head back laughing. “You’ll get used to him,” he said.

“Bartender!” A voice called from down the bar.

“That’ll be me.” Damen said with a smile. “Talk to you two later.”

Laurent spent the next couple of hours talking with Auguste at the bar. He didn’t really understand why they couldn’t just talk at home where it was quiet, and more comfortable. He supposed that Auguste wanted to drink. Which again, he could have done at home, and cheaper. Knowing his brother, he probably wanted the loud atmosphere. Auguste did always like being surrounded by people. 

“Gotta go to the bathroom.” Laurent said getting off of his stool. “I’ll be right back.”

About five minutes later Damen came by. 

“Need any refills?” he asked.

“No,” Auguste said. “But Laurent went to the bathroom a while ago and isn’t back yet. I’m starting to get worried. I should go check on him.”

“Nah,” Damen said. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll do it. I have to go grab a bottle from the back anyway. Running low on a whiskey.” he said walking out from behind the bar. “Back in a sec.”

As Damen was walking towards the bathroom he heard a voice.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Aww c’mon beautiful. Quit playing hard to get.”

Damen got closer and saw Laurent, a man reaching for Laurent’s arm again. Laurent took a step back.

“What’s going on here?” Damen asked.

Both the guy and Laurent looked over.

“Nothing.” the man said.

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

“This asshole doesn’t know the meaning of the word no.” Laurent said.

The man growled, and turned back towards Damen.

“My boyfriend is just quite drunk. We had an argument, and he’s getting hysterical.” he said reaching for Laurent again.

Damen grabbed the man’s arm before it could touch Laurent, and stepped in between them.

“See I happen to know this man, and I know he doesn’t have a boyfriend, especially not one twice his age.”

The man tried to pull his arm out of Damen’s grasp. “Let go of me!”

“Isn’t that what he was saying before? You didn’t listen, why should I?”

The man growled and took a swing at Damen with his other arm, which Damen caught in his other hand.

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” Damen said. “I’m bigger, stronger, and would have you on your ass in no time. Now,” he said, “would save some face and get out of here before you get hurt. And I don’t want to see you at my bar again, understood?”

The man rolled his eyes. “Fine. Not like the slut is worth it anyway. Fucking tease.” he mumbled, wandering off. 

Damen followed him with his eyes to make sure that he left then looked back at Laurent.

“You okay?”

Laurent nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.” he said.

Damen smiled, the dimples in his cheek deeper than before. “No problem. Anything for Auguste’s little brother. Come on, I’ll make sure you get back safely.”

Damen walked Laurent back to the bar.

“Everything alright?” Auguste asked standing up.

Damen nodded. “Yeah, just a bit of trouble but I took care of it. Maybe you guys should head home for the night?”

“Yeah,” Auguste said looking at Laurent. He put some money down on the table. “Come on Lau.” he said wrapping his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”

  
  


**The kiss**

After that time at the bar, Laurent tolerated Damen. He wasn’t a bad guy, and when Auguste began to hang outside of the bar with Damen, Laurent didn’t mind. It also helped that whenever Laurent came home for a weekend, or for a school holiday, Damen always invited him along to their plans. He didn’t want to take any time away from Auguste and his brother.

Laurent was pulled out of his book by the doorbell. He sighed. He had been fully engrossed in the story, and after he answered the door, it would take him sometime to become that focused again.

He turned the book over, and placed it next to him on the couch. Laurent didn’t think whoever was at the door would be long. Then, he got up and opened the door.

“Damen,” Laurent said surprised. 

“Hello.” Damen said, shooting Laurent a smile.

“What are you doing here? Did my brother forget that you two had plans?”

Damen shook his head. “No, but I did want to talk to him real quick. Does he have a moment?”

“Sorry, he went out. I’m not sure when he’s going to be back. I could tell him you stopped by?”

Damen opened his mouth to respond then closed it before opening it back up again. It looked like he had changed his mind on what he was going to say.

“One of my regulars, down at the bar, he’s part of this drunken Shakespeare group. They’re doing a show at the local theatre tonight, and he gave me a pair of tickets. Out of all of our friends, Auguste was the only one who would probably appreciate a play.”

It was true. Even though it was going to be a play done drunk, the audience was going to be sober. He couldn’t see Lazar, Orlant, Jord, Pallas, or even Nik sitting through it. His brother on the other hand had taken Laurent to many plays, and probably would have liked it.

“Yeah, he probably would have found it entertaining. Like I said, I don’t know when he’s going to be back though.”

“You like plays though don’t you Laurent?” he asked. 

Damen knew that Laurent was always reading books, checking out new exhibits in museums, attending classical musical concerts.

“Are you asking me to go with you?”

Damen shrugged. “Why not?”

“Well, I can’t say I’ve ever seen a play done drunk before. Sure, it sounds like it might be interesting. If not it’ll be something to laugh at.”

“Great.” Damen said. “It would have sucked to have to go alone.”

“Gee Damen.” Laurent said laughing. “Way to make a guy feel special.”

“No, Laurent that’s not what I-”

Laurent smirked. “Relax Damen, I know.”

“You want to grab a late lunch, early dinner first? If you haven’t eaten yet.”

He hadn’t. Laurent had started his book, gotten so absorbed, and forgot about anything else.

“Let me grab my jacket.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


By the time they made it to the play, Laurent was in such a good mood. He had thought that the meal was going to be awkward. After all, Damen and him had never hung out by themselves before. Why would they have? Damen was Auguste’s friend, not Laurents. 

But Damen kept the conversation going. They talked about Laurent’s classes, Damen’s job, they even got into an argument about a new book they have both read. Damen’s opinions were obviously wrong, even though he wouldn’t admit it.

When they arrived at the theatre they were led inside and taken to their seats. The theatre was very old, and small. It was a community theatre, so whatever money was available after the actors got paid, the props made, the script bought, went back into its upkeep. Which wasn’t a lot. Even so, Laurent thought that it still had it’s charm. Plus, he had good memories of the place.

“When I was little,” Laurent said. “Auguste used to take me here to see so many plays. Every year he would sign up to be a member. Members would get first choice at any plays that went on sale, and the tickets would be a bit discounted. It was one of our favorite activities to do together.”

He smiled.

“We would leave the house early, grab lunch like you and I just did, then come and watch the play. Afterwards we didn’t want the day to end, so he’d take me out for ice cream on the way home. Father came sometimes, but it was usually Auguste and I. I loved those days because I got to keep my brother all to myself.” he said. “He was always out with his friends, and doing other things as he got older, but this was always ours. He’s going to be jealous when he heard we went here without him.”

Damen chuckled. “Well then,” he said. “Auguste should have been home when I came over.” He smiled at Laurent. “But it’s nice to hear that this place has so many nice memories for you. I don’t hear much about your childhood, and I think it’s cute.”

Laurent blushed and elbowed Damen playfully. “Shut up, oaf.” he said.

Damen chuckled, and then Laurent shushed him as the first actor came onto the stage. 

Laurent had to admit he actually liked the play. He had read about them being done before, but had never seen one. The actors started off a bit tipsy, chose roles out of a hat, and that was their character for the night. As the play went on they continued to drink until they got drunker and drunker. Not for nothing, no matter how drunk they were, no matter how much they stumbled or slurred, they still remembered their lines correctly. Laurent had to applaud them for their talent.

“What did you think of the show?” Damen asked as the curtain was going down after their ovation.

“I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did.” Laurent said. “But they have some talent. Most of them were really good actors, and the way they could still recall the lines even when drunk, and for any character. I was really impressed.”

Damen smiled. “Good,” he said. “I’m glad you liked it. I thought it was well done too.”

“Yes, and on such a small budget,” he said. “Though I guess in a show like this people aren’t paying for the props, but for the entertainment.”

“I agree. So,” Damen said standing. “Should we uphold tradition and get some ice cream?”

Laurent beamed at Damen and nodded. “I think that’s a great idea.”

Damen drove them to go get ice cream, and Laurent got the weirdest ice cream combination that he had ever seen. Half chocolate chip cookie dough, half chocolate chip mint topped with gummy bears, and Snocaps. 

They sat on the bench outside, and Damen peered into Laurent’s cup. He himself had just plain vanilla bean. Why mess with the originals?

“Are you really going to eat that?” he asked.

Laurent quirked his eyebrow. “I didn’t order it to stare and watch it melt,” he said. “Why?” he asked, and took a bite to prove his point.

“Because those don’t seem like two flavors that would go together, especially with those toppings.”

Laurent shrugged. “It’s what I always ordered when I was younger. Auguste used to think it was strange too, but it became my go-to. Plus, you shouldn’t knock it until you try it. I figured with your size, you’d eat everything and anything.”

“Alright, I’ll believe you.”

Laurent rolled his eyes, and put another scoop onto his spoon. “Here try it.” Laurent said bringing it up to Damen’s mouth. 

Damen leaned in, his eyes locking with Laurent’s, and opened his mouth. When Laurent pushed the spoon into his mouth, Damen closed his lips taking it off. Laurent pulled the spoon away.

“Well,” he asked quietly, still looking at Damen.

Damen pursed his lips and tilted his head. “It’s alright. I still say vanilla is the best.”

Laurent rolled his eyes again. “You just don’t have a sophisticated pallet.”

Damen laughed. “Yes, that must be it.”

When they finished their ice cream, they got up to throw their trash away, and walk back to Damen’s car. Damen opened the door for him.

“Wait,” Damen said as Laurent was about to get in.

“What?” Laurent asked looking up at him.

“You have a bit…” Damen said before bringing his thumb up to Laurent’s face, and wiping the corner of his mouth.

“You had a sprinkle from one of the Snocaps.”

Laurent blushed. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They drove back to Laurent’s house, the radio on low. Laurent expected Damen to keep the car running, and say goodbye to him in the car, and watch until Laurent went inside safely. Instead Damen turned the car off and got out too.

“Auguste’s not back yet so let me walk you to the door.”

“You know nothing is going to happen to me from here to the door right?”

“I know.” Damen said shrugging, but got out anyway.

“Well,” Laurent said, a couple of seconds later when they reached the door. “We’ve both made it here unaccosted. Thank god for small miracles.”

Damen sighed. “You could just say thank you Damen.”

“Thank you Damen.”

“For taking me to the play and getting me ice cream.”

“For taking me to the play and getting me ice cream.”

“I had a good time.”

“I had a good time.”

Damen smiled. “Me too.”

Laurent blushed. “Idiot.” he said fondly.

“Yeah, but you like it.”

“I think...I think I do.” Laurent said quietly.

Damen paused. “Laurent if I’m reading this wrong, stop me.” he said and then leaned in slowly.

When Laurent’s eyes fluttered shut, Damen knew he was reading it correctly. He leaned in the rest of the way, and pressed his lips to Laurent’s kissing him softly before pulling away.

Laurent sighed, eyes opening slowly to look at Damen.

“Can I come see you again, during your break?” Damen asked.

Laurent nodded. “I’d like that.”

  
  
  
  


**The beginning of the end**

They had been dating for almost three years, Laurent about to go into his senior year. Laurent was at Damen’s apartment, sitting on the countertop in the kitchen as he watched Damen cooking.

“You know, I was thinking” Damen said.

“There’s your mistake.” Laurent said. “You know it’s dangerous when you think.”

Damen rolled his eyes. “Anyway, like I said, I was thinking, it’s been three years now-”

“Almost.”

“-give or take.” Damen continued on like Laurent hadn’t said anything. If he stopped for every single one of Laurent’s interruptions he would never get a finished thought out. “I think you should move in with me.”

Laurent stared at Damen for a moment waiting for him to start laughing, or tell him it was a joke. Then Damen didn’t do either of those things.

“Oh. You’re being serious.”

“Of course I am. The commute to your school isn’t that long from here, and your over here most weekends or I’m there when you need to stay there to study. I know you chose to live in the dorms because you wanted the college experience, but you’ve had it. I think it’s time we start getting the living with your boyfriend experience.”

“Yes, I wanted the experience and I haven’t had all of it yet. It’s my last year in college, I want to celebrate it with my classmates.”

Damen quirked his eyebrow. “You never hang out with any of your classmates. What’s the difference?”

“The difference is that I still want to live there. I want to do the whole 4 year college life experience. I want to do it correctly.”

“But Laurent, I really think-”

“And it’s so convenient. If I need to go to the library at 2 a.m. for a research book I can. If I’m having a bad day and am running late it’s not such a big deal because I live right on campus. I don’t have to worry about weather, traffic, driving...there’s many reasons.”

“There are also reasons for giving this a shot.”

“For example?”

“Me.”

Laurent rolled his eyes. “You’ll still be here after I finish school Damen. It’s not like you’re going anywhere. Plus, like you said, I’m here all the time. It’s like I’m already living here without the work of me moving everything, or inconveniencing my studies.”

Laurent hopped off of the counter. “I’m going to go wash my hands before dinner. Ask me again in a year Damen, after I’ve graduated.”

Damen didn't ask again. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**The break up**

Damen stood in the kitchen looking the table over for the last time. The herb and rosemary crusted chicken and wedged potatoes were sitting in the oven to stay warm. The asparagus in a bowl on the counter ready to be served. There was a plate of salad in front of both of their chairs. The cutlery set up, and glasses ready for the celebratory champagne. Damen patted the inner pocket of his suit. 

Damen had been planning this for a while. Since at least a year into their relationship. He had wanted to propose to Laurent after only months of being with him, but Damen knew it wasn’t the right time. He wanted to wait until Laurent was out of school. Damen also wanted to be more financially stable for him.

Yes, he owned his own bar, and it was popular on the weekends, but during the weekdays it wasn’t as lucrative as he would like. Damen kept the bar because it was his baby, how he started, but he had just opened up a nightclub. According to the newspaper and online reviews from opening night, it was one of the newest ‘it’ places. 

Now, with Laurent having just started his new job, an assistant editor at the publishing company he had been dreaming of working at, and Damen’s success, he felt it was the perfect time. Damen checked the clock on the wall. Laurent should be back any minute.

Any minute quickly turned into twenty minutes, then thirty. After thirty Damen was seriously getting worried. Laurent could have hit traffic, but that hardly ever happened. His mind started taking him to the worst places. Laurent in a car accident, body on the side of the road. 

Finally he picked his phone up from the counter, and called Laurent. It rang once, twice, then

“Yeah?” Laurent asked.

“Laurent, are you okay? Is everything alright?” Damen asked.

There was a pause, and then. 

“Yeah everything’s fine. Why?”

“Well, you were supposed to be here for dinner about an hour ago.”

Damen heard Laurent curse.

“Sorry, I’m still at the office. We had a new story come in that the boss was really interested in. I’ve been giving it a first read over.”

“You’re still at work? Laurent, we had dinner plans.”

“I know Damen. I lost track of the time. I said I was sorry.”

Damen sighed. “How much longer are you going to be?”

“I’m not sure.” Laurent said, glancing at the clock. “Probably won’t be that much longer though. I’ll head over when I’m done. See you then.” he said before hanging up. 

Damen put the phone down, and looked at the table. The candles, the glasses, the food that even in the oven was going to go cold. He slowly started packing everything away.

Apparently according to Laurent, not that much longer meant four hours later. Laurent looked through the door, and hung his coat up on the rack, his briefcase in his hand. He paused seeing Damen sitting on the couch, a bottle of beer in his hands, two empty on the table, still in his suit.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me.” Laurent said.

“I know,” Damen said, “but I wanted to talk.”

“About what?”

“About tonight. We had dinner plans Laurent. I made a nice dinner for us. I had...I had plans.”

Laurent put the briefcase down, and walked closer. “I know, and I said I was sorry multiple times, but I had work.”

“So did I. I just opened up a night club Laurent! There were plenty of other things I could have been doing tonight. But I worked double shifts all week to be able to get tonight off with you. Taking Friday’s off from a newly opened club is hard.”

“Yes, and I had to work late tonight. Late nights shouldn’t surprise you at all. You work them all the time.”

“I know, but we hardly ever see each other as it is with our opposite schedules. Couldn’t you have left early the one night that we had plans?”

“I just started this job Damen. I don’t even know how I got it to be honest. They normally don’t hire people directly out of college without any experience. I’m the newest one there, the youngest. I have to prove myself! So when this job came up, well it’s my first priority.”

“What about me?”

“What do you mean what about you?”

“I should be your first priority.” Damen said. “You’re mine after all.”

“I’m not going to give up a chance at the career I want for some relationship Damen. That’s not the kind of guy I am.”

“I’m not asking you to give up your career. I’m asking you to also try to focus on us, to care about us as much as you care about your job.”

“Damen, it was just a stupid dinner. We can just move it to tomorrow night or another day. I don’t know why you’re getting so upset about this. We are both busy people.”

“It wasn’t just some stupid dinner!” Damen said, raising his voice. “Laurent, I love you. You’re the most important thing in my life right now, but at the moment it feels like I’m the only one who thinks that. It doesn’t seem like you’re as invested in it as I am. I need to know that you feel the same as me or this isn’t going to work.”

Laurent stared at Damen for a moment. “I guess not.” he said. “Because I am not going to change. If they need me to stay later then I need to stay late. If I miss a dinner every now and then, that’s how it has to be. If you need to do the same, I'd understand.” 

Damen was frustrated. He couldn’t understand why Laurent wasn’t seeing his point of view. He couldn’t understand why after years of them being in a relationship, Laurent wasn’t taking it as seriously as Damen was. He was ready to take the next step with Laurent. To spend the rest of his life with him, but it seemed all Laurent cared about was his job.

“Do you even love me Laurent?”

Laurent looked at Damen shocked. “Of course I do.”

“Well, right now, it doesn’t feel like you do.”

Laurent stepped back, a look of shock on his face.

“You think I don’t love you because at this point in time I’m putting my job first? I’m young Damen. Just got out of college. Now is the time for me to get started on my career, to lock it in, to make sure I’m in a comfortable position years for now. I’m sorry that we all can’t slack off at our jobs like you can. We all can’t just party through our lives like you Damen.”

Laurent hadn’t meant for it to come out that way. He hadn’t meant to make Damen’s job seem like it wasn’t hard, or wasn’t important. But once the words left his mouth, he knew that was what it sounded like. He could see the hurt that crossed Damen’s features. 

Laurent turned around, and grabbed his briefcase off the floor heading towards the door.

“Where are you going Laurent?” Damen asked standing up from the couch.

“I’m making the choice for us,” he said.

“What choice? Laurent don’t you dare walk out of that door. We’re not done talking.”

“I am.” Laurent said. “You don’t tell me what to do Damen. You don’t control my life.” he said letting the door slam shut behind him. 

As the door was closing he heard Damen call his name one last time. Laurent kept walking.

Early Tuesday morning when Damen came home from work, all of Laurent’s stuff was gone from his apartment like it had never even been there.

  
  


**The first fight**

It was the Superbowl, and Auguste had all of his friends at their house. Laurent hadn’t wanted to show up, he had wanted to lock himself in his room, read, and do homework. Auguste convinced him to make an appearance. He said everyone would want to see him, even Damen, who Laurent had mentioned to try and get out of it. Plus, there was going to be a lot of food, and Laurent would need to eat eventually. 

It had only been about a month, if that, since they split, and Laurent knew it was going to be awkward. When Damen first showed up it really had been, but with everyone else here it was easy to ignore each other, to get focused on other things. Everything was going fine, until it wasn’t.

Lazar, the group loudmouth, threw a piece of popcorn at Damen from over on the armchair to get his attention.

“So, when are we going to meet that new girlfriend of yours?” he asked.

Laurent’s head turned over from the table where he was pilling chicken wings on his plate. Damen caught his eye quickly and looked away.

“Don’t know. After all, it's nothing serious yet.” he said.

“Not serious? You’ve already been dating for a couple of weeks. We want to meet her. See if she’s cool enough to hang with the group.”

And it was true. They all did want to meet her, but they were going to ask about it when Laurent wasn’t around. Even Auguste had been curious.

Laurent did the math in his head. A couple of weeks, which meant Damen had started dating again almost right after they had broken up, after they had been together for years.

“Let’s talk about this another time.” Damen said trying to change the subject.

“No,” Laurent piped up, putting his plate down on the table. “Now I’m interested. Let’s see a picture. Let’s see what kind of girl you went after.” he said walking over and perching on the arm of the couch.

Damen sighed and pulled out his phone. He knew if he said know they’d just keep bugging him, especially Laurent; he never did give up.

Laurent was expecting someone beautiful of course, that was Damen’s type. What he had not been expecting was someone who looked so much like him. Other than the fact that her hair was a bit longer, her face a bit softer, and that she had boobs, they looked almost exactly alike. They could have been related.

“Replacing me already?” Laurent asked before his brain caught up with his mouth.

Damen looked up at him, and slipped the phone back into his pocket. “No, I could never replace you.”

“Really? Because she looks exactly like me.”

“You broke up with me Laurent.”

“Yeah, not even a month ago. We had dated for years Damen. I didn’t think you’d go and get someone new right away. You must have really wanted to get your dick wet.”

“Laurent that’s not fair!”

“Oh?” Laurent quirked his eyebrow. “It’s not? Well I’m sorry if I thought I fucking meant something. Apparently not because it only took two weeks for you to get over me.” he said.

Laurent got off the arm of the couch, walked over to the table, grabbed his plate and walked up the stairs to his room shutting them all out. He didn’t come back down for the rest of the night.

  
  
  
  


**The second fight**

If anyone had told Laurent that Lazar would be the first one to get married out of all of them he would have laughed in that person’s face. He would have even bet money against it. But, here he was in a suit, at the after party, Lazar and Pallas making the rounds to say hi to their friends and family.

When they made their way over to Laurent’s table, Auguste stood slapping them both on the back one by one and pulling them into hugs. Laurent raised his glass of Ginger Ale at them, and offered them a congratulations. 

The ceremony had been nice, Lazar even in a normal suit. Laurent had been sure that the other was going to show up in something flashy and showy. Pallas must have talked him out of it for their wedding. That really showed how much Lazar loved the other man.

The hall for the party was nice too, and the food was good. They had a DJ and a nice spot to dance. Laurent thought if he ever got married, he wouldn’t mind something like this. Laurent ended up keeping mostly to himself. After all he only knew a handful of people here, and they were all Auguste’s friends to begin with. He was sure he’d only got an invite because of that.

It was nearing the end of the night, and Laurent got up to go to the open bar to grab another soda. He didn’t know how Pallas and Lazar were paying for the open bar. Laurent was sure they put together with their friends was drinking the hall out of their entire stock. 

Laurent ordered his drink, and turned around, back against the bar to survey the party. Lazar and Pallas, drunk off their asses, were on the dance floor swaying with one another. Many of the guests had already left, those behind just being immediate family and close friends. He turned his head when he heard a glass bang on the counter top.

Damen was standing at the other end, his hand letting go of a shot glass. He looked plastered. Then when he spoke, Laurent was sure that was true.

“They look so happy.” Damen said. “It must be nice.”

“I saw you dancing with Jokaste earlier. You two looked happy also.” Laurent said, great at hiding the spitefulness that wanted to come out.

Damen shrugged. “Not as happy as they are. They’re in love.”

“You’re in love too.” Laurent said wondering where this conversation was going, and why he was still participating in it.

“Not true love.” Damen said, motioning the bartender over for another shot. “They’re in true love.”

“True love doesn’t exist.” Laurent said.

“Why can’t you just...Why do you always have to be so fucking pessimistic?” Damen practically shouted.

“What? Because I don’t believe in true love I’m pessimistic? I’m allowed to believe in anything I want. Where is Jokaste anyway?” he said trying to change the subject. Laurent wasn’t in the mood for having another argument with Damen at the moment. Especially not when he was drunk. “She should be here cutting you off.”

“Her feet hurt. She went home about an hour ago. And I can drink as much as I want. I’m a goddamn adult after all.” 

Then Damen continued not letting Laurent drop the subject so easily.

**“** And you have to believe in true love,” he said. “That’s what we had.”

Laurent laughed. “You think we were in true love?”

Damen shook his head. “No, I know we were. And being here fucking sucks. I’m happy for them of course, but I didn’t think they’d be first. I thought we would have been. I thought we would have been married by now. But it’s too late for that isn’t it? You went and pushed me away like you do everyone else. You’re so selfish.”

Laurent stood up straighter tensing. Damen had thought they were in true love. Thought they would have been married by now. But he said it was too late. 

Laurent still loved Damen. He thought of him almost everyday, and whenever he came around Auguste’s when Laurent was over it was almost too much. Just being this close to Damen hurt. The only thing that covered that hurt up half the time was Damen and Laurent’s fighting. It was easy to make someone think you hated them when you were yelling at them.

“Selfish? No, selfish would have been me staying with you when I knew it wasn’t working out. Selfish would have been me marrying you, and pretending we were happy, that I was happy. Selfish would have been me making you go through a divorce when I knew it would have been coming eventually. Selfish would have been me staying with you when I couldn’t stand being around you anymore. We were never in true love Damen. You can’t be in true love if you were never in real love to begin with.”

He swiped the soda off the bar counter, and walked away head held high, back straight. He didn’t look back. Couldn’t see the hurt that was probably written all over Damen’s face right now. Couldn’t let Damen see the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. 

  
  


**The misunderstanding**

Auguste was finally getting married. Damen, who had become one of Auguste’s best friends over the years, especially when he had been dating his brother, offered to give the whole VIP section of his club to Auguste and all of his friends for the night. It was a part of his wedding gift for Auguste.

“Promise you’ll behave Laurent.” he said outside of the club. “This is my bachelor party. My last yee-haw before my wedding. I want to enjoy it, I don’t want to have to worry about you and Damen killing one another, or having to bail one of you out of jail.”

Laurent rolled his eyes. “I’ll try. As long as he doesn’t open his annoying mouth it should be fine.”

“Laurent.” Auguste said exasperated.

“Fine,” he said with a sign. “I promise not to ruin your party.”

“Thank you.” Auguste smiled before heading into the club.

When they walked in, they were met with loud music, lights flashing all over the place, and heat. The club had already been open for a few hours and people were already dancing and having a good time. 

They pushed their way through the crowd, and up to the VIP section where bottles of champagne, and hard drinks were waiting on the table. As they walked up the stairs Laurent looked around. He had only been in the club once since it had opened. He had been there many times helping Damen set up for their big party opening night. After that party was over, Laurent had never been back. It wasn’t his scene or something he enjoyed. From the looks at all the people here, Damen had done well for himself. 

For once, everything was going fine, at least until it wasn’t. Laurent had kept his word. He hadn’t fought with Damen once. It was pretty hard to when everyone was having fun. Auguste, and his crew were down the stairs on the dancefloor dancing with one another and having a good time. Jord, Orlant, and Nikandros even finding some women to dance with.

Laurent spent most of his time in the VIP section, looking down at everyone having a good time, though Auguste had gotten him to join them for dancing a couple of times. Eventually, everyone made their way back up needing more alcohol and a break. It was then that Jokaste walked up the stairs.

“Damen.” she said. “I’m sorry, but a bachelorette party just came in. Apparently they’re club hopping for the night. There’s a bunch of them, and them mixed in with the other clientele the bars getting over run.”

Since Damen was Auguste’s best friend, he took the night off of work. Jokaste volunteered to step up and be in charge of the club for the night, and help run everything with the staff, so that he could have fun.

Damen smiled. “Sure, I can help for a few,” he said. “It’s no problem.”

He was making his way down the stairs when he remembered the state of himself. He had taken his suit jacket off at the beginning of the night, it was too hot to wear during all of the dancing. Damen’s sleeves were rolled up, the top two buttons of his shirt undone, shirt sticking to his skin, sweat glistening through at some parts.

Damen paused on the stairs, and held out his hand to Jokaste. “Hand me my suit jacket,” he said. “So I look more presentable.”

Jokaste grabbed the suit from over one of the couches quickly, and handed it to Damen. As she was handing it over something fell out of the pocket. Damen hadn’t noticed, and began to walk down again.

“Damen! You forgot something!” she called out, but he didn’t hear her over the noise. 

She bent down to pick it up and it was a box, a ring box. She opened it up and inside was a wedding band. It was a beautiful simple solid gold wedding band, with diamonds all the way around on the top and bottom. It was a bit unconventional for a woman, but Jokaste knew an engagement ring when she saw one. 

Jokaste gasped and ran down the stairs after Damen. She grabbed his arm, twirled him around and hugged his neck tightly. “Yes!” she shouted.

“Yes what?” Damen asked confused.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” she said holding out the ring. “We will have to talk about your taste and what’s appropriate for a woman, but yes.”

The color just about drained from Damen’s face. The ring, he had forgotten all about it. As he was getting ready for the party, Jokaste had been going through his closest helping him pick out his outfit. She had found the old suit in the back pulling it out. It was a nice suit, why had he never worn it before? And it was, it was a nice suit. Just because it was the suit it was dumped in didn’t mean that Damen should never have to wear it again. So he wore it. The little detail of the engagement ring having been long forgotten.

  
  


Laurent looked on in shock. He needed...he didn’t know what he needed but he did need to get out of their right this instant.

Auguste grabbed Laurent’s arm. “Laurent.”

“No, Auguste.” he said his voice pained. “Not now.” 

Laurent rushed down the stairs, and paused in front of the two. Jokaste’s arms were still around Damen’s neck a giant smile on her face, Damen’s hands around her waist holding her confused.

“Congratulations.” he mumbled before pushing through the crowd to get anywhere but here.

Auguste chased him down the stairs.

“Really Damen? You had to do this at my bachelor party?”

“It wasn’t...it’s not...Jokaste the ring it’s not for you.”

The smile dropped from her face slowly. “What?”

“This suit...it’s old. I haven’t worn it since I was dating Laurent. Since the night I was going to propose to him. I need...I need to stop him.” he said. “I’m sorry.”

Damen turned around, and went in the direction Laurent headed. He followed him outside, and when he got outside Laurent was hailing down a cab. Damen ran over, and closed the door of the cab before he could get in.

“What are you doing Damen? Shouldn’t you be inside celebrating with your fiance?” he asked. “Just leave me alone alright? I’m not in the mood for whatever argument we are about to have.”

Laurent turned around to the cab, but another woman had already gotten in and the car was driving off. Laurent cursed. Fine, he’d walk. He just needed to get far from Damianos.

Damen grabbed his hand. “No Laurent. You don’t understand.”

“Don’t understand what Damen!? I know what a wedding ring looks like. I’m not stupid. So what don’t I understand? Don’t understand how we were together for years, but you never asked me to move in. Don’t understand how I thought you loved me, but you never proposed to me? Don’t understand how you two haven’t even been together for a year and a half, and you’re already ready to spend the rest of your life with her?”

“I always regretted how I ended our relationship Damen. How I pushed you away, but now...now I’m glad I did. It saved me a worse heartbreak for the future when you finally realized you were never going to be ready to take that next step with me!”

Damen stepped forward, and ran his thumb over Laurent’s cheek drying away his tears. When had he started crying? He hadn’t even noticed it.

“That ring wasn’t for her Laurent.”

“Oh yeah? And who else would it be for Damen? I’m tired of this. Tired of our arguments, our squabbles, how we lie and hide things from each other. I’m done. I’m done with you. After my brother’s wedding I never want to see your face again.”

“It was for you Laurent!” Damen yelled pained. “That night, the reason I was so upset was because I had planned to propose to you. I had taken off of work, spent a whole night preparing a nice romantic dinner, and then you couldn’t even be bothered showing up for it. I thought you didn’t love me like I had loved you.” 

Laurent gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I loved you with all my heart, Damen. I just didn’t want someone to control my life. I have never stopped loving you. You were it for me Damen. You were my forever.”

“And you were mine.” Damen said. “I never stopped loving you either Laurent.” he said, and then dropped down to his knee, grabbing Laurent’s hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Doing what I should have done then. I should have stopped you at the door before I lost you. I should have proposed like I wanted you. Auguste’s wedding tomorrow, that could have been ours.”

Laurent looked at Damen speechless for a moment before speaking.

“I can’t.” Laurent said. “I can’t marry you.”

“Wh-”

Laurent held up his hand. “I can’t marry you now. Too much has happened between then and now. But, what we can do is try this again. Take our time, get back in sync with one another. Then when the time is right, I’ll say yes. How does that sound? Can you wait?”

Damen smiled and stood back up.

“That sounds amazing Laurent. I can wait forever as long as it’s with you.” he said.

Damen rested a hand on the blonde’s waist, and pulled him closer for a kiss. The first of many more to come. 

  
  



End file.
